The following list of “dos and don’ts” stems from the book, PSYCHOLOGICAL EXPERTS IN DIVORCE ACTIONS[1]. Its authors are psychologists “involved in 1000s of custody cases.” This list has been reworked to be consistent with Illinois law. That book states: “A client who is following most of the dos and few or none of the don’ts is in a favorable position to obtain an allocation of parenting time consistent with her or his goals; a client who is performing a few of the dos and most of the don’ts is in an uncertain or negative position to obtain a favorable award.”
The do’s and don’ts in PSYCHOLOGICAL EXPERTS IN DIVORCE were written from a psychologist’s viewpoint. The Gitlin Law Firm’s adapted this list to fit within the perspective of litigation. Yet the goal is to avoid a full-blown parental allocation litigation due to the emotional and financial cost. I agree with the position taken by the authors of the treatise that a client who follows the directives is in a good position to win a battle involving parenting time / responsibilities. That is, if a battle is necessary. Remind your clients that remaining above the fray and doing what is right relative to the children is difficult. But uniformly, produces positive long-term results.
[1] Ackerman, Kane and Gould, Wolters Kluwer (7th Ed. 2018).
